COSC

Volume 1, Issue 1

Financial Aid Newsletter

February 2014

Registration for Spring 2014 is open!

The last day to register for Term 2 is 4pm on March 12th, 2014.

Reminders for filing the 2014-2015 FAFSA

A FAFSA must be filed every year if a student wishes to be considered for federal, state or institutional funding. The priority date for receipt of the FAFSA is April 1, 2014 for the fall 2014 semester. After this date, funds will be awarded based on availability.

Register Online for Spring Term 2 Correspondence

Financial aid correspondence will be sent to you via email. No Paper Letters. Please be sure to check your Charter Oak E-mail for correspondence from the college.

Check Acorn regularly

Financial aid policies, along with new or revised policies, are published in ACORN by accessing the "Financial Aid" tab and clicking on "Policies. Students should always check ACORN for timely financial aid announcements, and updates to policies and procedures during the course of the award year.

Veterans

As a veteran, you may be entitled to educational benefits from the federal Pell Grant, State and/or Institutional Grant Programs. Your eligibility for state, institutional and federal aid is determined when you complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). This is a free application process. If the site requests a payment, you are on the wrong site.

In order to complete the 2014-15 FAFSA your 2013 tax information is required. Estimated 2013 tax information may be used to complete the FAFSA.

If you filed a FAFSA for the 2013-2014 academic year, a renewal FAFSA is now available for you to complete for the 2014-2015 academic year. Most of your information will be pre-populated with your demographic information from last year. Please review this information and update accordingly.

Once your 2013 taxes are filed with the IRS, you will need to return to the FAFSA web site and correct your estimated information. The best way to complete your FAFSA data with accurate tax information is by using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT). The DRT is the most secure way to provide the Office of Financial Aid with federal tax filing information for income verification. To use the DRT, your tax return must be filed at least two weeks (electronic filing) and 6-8 weeks (paper return) before using the tool.

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Spring Registration Open for Term 2 Courses Veterans Applying for Aid: Reminder for filing the 14-15 FAFSA Satisfactory Academic Progress Repeat Courses Loan Advice: 150% Rule for New Loan Borrowers

The Title IV Federal School Code for Charter Oak State College is 032343.

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Satisfactory Academic Progress

All students must meet Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) requirements to receive financial aid. The Office of Financial Aid measures your academic progress every semester. If you are unable to meet SAP requirements, you could lose your eligibly for financial aid, including federal loans. Students may appeal denial of financial aid with supporting documentation. Academic progress standards for financial aid differ from those used by the College to determine your eligibility for continued enrollment. Therefore, in many cases, students denied financial aid could continue taking classes. These students would need to arrange for alternative funding to pay college charges.

Changing degree programs or transferring does not restart the clock. Time already used is tracked to determine remaining subsidized eligibility. As an example, students seeking a four-year degree must subtract eligibility previously used (from their 2 year program) to determine their remaining period of subsidized eligibility at the four year program.

A student who reaches the 150% limitation, whether seeking a certificate, two-year or four-year degree, can continue to receive unsubsidized Stafford loans if he or she is otherwise eligible.

Contact the Office of Financial aid if you have any questions on how withdrawals or F grades may affect you before your withdraw. All of our financial aid policies, including SAP, are published in ACORN by accessing the "Financial Aid" tab and clicking on "Policies.

Repeat Courses

On July 1, 2011, the U.S. Department of Education published a new Program Integrity rule that may impact the receipt of financial aid funds for students who repeat (retake) coursework, including the Federal Pell Grant, Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grant (FSEOG), and Direct Loans. Based on new federal regulations, the Office of Financial Aid cannot pay a student for coursework that has been passed and repeated more than one time. This means that a student can only receive financial aid for one repetition of a previously passed course.

For instance, a part-time student (6 credits) who borrows the full subsidized annual loan limit during a period of enrollment that covers a full academic year will have used one-half (0.50) of their subsidized usage period. A part time student (6 credits) who does not receive his full annual loan limit during a period of enrollment that covers a full academic year will have used one quarter (0.25) of their usage period.

For part-time students, enrollment level may influence the calculation of the timeframe used.

When a student does not complete his or her program of study within the 150% timeframe, and borrowers again, eligibility for an interest subsidy also ends. This includes all outstanding subsidized loans that were previously borrowed. When this happens, interest on previously borrowed loans begins to accrue and becomes payable in the same manner as interest on an unsubsidized loan.

Federal Direct Loan 150% rule

Applicable to first-time Federal Direct Subsidized Loan borrowers with no outstanding loan debt on or after July 1, 2013 Legislation effective July 1, 2013 further emphasizes program completion for financial aid recipients. This change affects borrower access to Direct Subsidized Stafford Loans when a student does not complete his or her educational program in a timely fashion.

Additional information of the new 150% rule is available at http://studentaid.ed.gov/types/loans/subsidizedunsubsidized.

Financial Aid Office Hours:

Monday Friday 8:30 a.m. 5:00 p.m. (860) 515-3703 (phone) (860) 760-6540 (fax) sfa@charteroak.edu

Eligible students are allowed subsidized loans for 150% of the published timeframe for their program of study, if the student is enrolled in a 2-year associate degree program; the maximum period for which a Direct Subsidized Loan is potentially available is 3 years (150% of 2 years = 3 years).

COSC Title IV School Code: 032343

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